Award-winning quiltmaker Anita Shackelford shares her Pennsylvania Reel pattern in the November/December 2003 (#94) issue of Quiltmaker magazine.
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Excerpts from the Experts
Interview with Anita Shackelford
Anita Shackelford is an award-winning quiltmaker, author and instructor, and a fabric designer for P&B Textiles. A love of antique quilts has inspired her to study 19th century styles and techniques, and influenced patterns in several of her books. Pennsylvania Plain & Fancy is available from Thimble Works at www.thimbleworks.com, and Coxcomb Variations, Three Dimensional Applique & Embroidery Embellishment and Infinite Feathers Quilting Designs can be purchased from the American Quilter's Society at www.aqsquilt.com.
How did you decide to make quiltmaking a career? What led you in that direction?
I have been making quilts since 1967; traditional in style, of course, because the idea of quilts-as-art had not yet arrived.
In the early 1980s I designed two family album quilts, made with original designs and incorporating a number of dimensional techniques inspired by nineteenth century quilts. As the quilts were shown and began to win awards, people asked how I had created them. That led to requests to teach for guilds and shows around the country, and eventually, to a book contract. In retrospect, I guess you could say that the career found me.
What inspires your work? How do new ideas come to you in quiltmaking?
I love everything about mid-nineteenth century quilts and I continue to be inspired by them. I enjoy the quirkiness of simple folk art applique and the complexity of the more elaborate album designs. I think I could work in variations of red and green forever. Although I sometimes piece, applique and quilt by machine, my best quilts are still hand appliqued and hand quilted. Many incorporate trapunto, fine background quilting and a piped binding, as you would find in a "best" nineteenth century quilt.
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